diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 05bec8a9dc2c196df83d5703741e58acb8b6e2a4..52575b3de578e31d78405138a3dad47fb367ee93 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ check-no-changes-in-data:
     - echo "Checking that git status output is empty..."
     - sh -c '[ "`git status -s`" = "" ]'
     - git diff --exit-code
+  only:
+    - merge_requests
 
 generate-access-history:
   extends: .template-refrepo